Muscians – Music, what’s music? It’s all music?

I’ve been on a binge with my students to listen to more music that I don’t know, they don’t know, and is outside of the comfort zone.  I just got some anthologies of African Bands, Tommy James and the Shondells, metal bands I’ve never heard of, more Brian Eno.  Rare soul groves,  jazz from the early 1920’s,  back porch apalachian recordings from the early 1900’s, zydeco, cajun,  soca, rumba, calypso, salsa, Country, chill music etc…..

 

There is so much to be learned from going into the unfamiliar.  Stuff that you were trying to analyze but couldn’t see with drumming patterns, chord arrangements that break away from what you are used to.  You don’t need to enjoy the music you force yourself to listen to , but you do need to listen with ears that dissect.  Patterns in Latin get you to think about how you groove.  Old funk and soul instrumental music is priceless – jazz musicians playing in funk bands laying down 2 bar riffs where the 2nd measure is up for grabs – just throw an accent on the 3rd beat…… all sorts of stuff just pops into view and strengthens your understanding of how music can be arranged, composed and played.

Go on youtube and follow the rabbit trail of suggestions until you are into posted music that is far from what you listen to, then pick something that is strange and uncomfortable – give that some repeated listening and see if you can make sense of it.

Why was it  written and played that way?  Does it produce a feeling of genre?  Is there something worth stealing?  Is there  something to learn about this style?  What works what doesn’t?

If you were to listen to 1 song a day, or week that was outside of your comfort zone – I guarantee that it will have an impact on how you hear what you already know and listen to, and, it will impact what you see as possible when you go to compose.

 

Here are some youtube queries  that might help ” Greek Music”   “African Music”  “rare soul”  ” jazz fusion”  “prog metal”  “hindu vedas”  ” nujazz”  “American field recordings”  “Plena”  “Jamacian Ska”  ” Ju Ju”   ” Brian Eno”  “Charles Ives”  etc…….  you can go to wikipedia look up world music and then that genres you’ve never heard and paste it into youtube